Tag: Tyler Thigpen

At the league meetings in New Orleans, Rex Ryan has surprisingly been very open with the media. Outside of his jabs at New England and Super Bowl guarantees, which this writer will never tire of reading, he made a concerning comment about the Jets quarterback position. Ryan confirmed the Jets aren’t looking for a quarterback and will stay put with Mark Brunell as the backup and Kellen Clemens likely as the third stringer.

The Jets were lucky…very lucky in 2010 that Mark Sanchez didn’t miss a single start. He probably should have down the stretch because of his banged up shoulder. Keep in mind despite only being in the league for two seasons, Sanchez has had surgery on his left knee, sprained his right knee, and a cartilage tear in his throwing shoulder.

You would think the Jets, a team who considers themselves a legitimate Super Bowl contender, would have better insurance for their franchise quarterback.

They don’t. They are content to allow Brunell, who is better suited to be a coach at this point than a player, remain Sanchez’s top backup. In case you forgot, Brunell will turn 41 years old this September and since the end of the 2006 season, he has thrown for 229 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.

Are you really comfortable with Brunell taking over the Jets offense for a few weeks if Sanchez gets banged up? If you are, you need to hop back in the time machine that took you to 1995 and get yourself into the present reality.

Beyond Brunell, it is clear the coaching staff has no faith in Kellen Clemens since they went and got Brunell to replace him after the 2009 season. Their lack of faith is probably well grounded, considering Clemens history as an incredibly mediocre NFL quarterback.

If the Jets were smart, they’d pursue any of the following: Bruce Gradkowski, Marc Bulger, Billy Volek, Luke McCown, and Tyler Thigpen, all of whom would upgrade the number two quarterback spot. They should then consider spending a late round draft pick on a developmental quarterback to groom as Sanchez’s long term backup.